Apparatus for separating laundry articles

ABSTRACT

There is provided an apparatus and methods for separating an article of laundry from a bundle of articles. The bundle is located in a truck which is clamped into a carriage by means of clamping arm or attached to guide rails. The truck is moved by suitable drive means in a controlled manner beneath a grip device which is movable into and out of the truck. The grip device is mounted on a carriage which is movable upwards relative to a frame by means of a winch and downwards by gravity. The grip device picks the article from the bundle using a dual clamp structure and lifts the article up past an adjacent conveyor which is mounted so as to oscillate about a roller. An air jet means is also provided to blow the article into a nip defined between the conveyor belt and a spring loaded nip roller. Sensors are provided for sensing overload conditions for the conveyor and the grip device.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present patent document is a divisional of application Ser. No.10/682,671, filed Oct. 9, 2003, which is a divisional of applicationSer. No. 09/348,400, filed Jul. 7, 1999, both of which are herebyincorporated by reference, and likewise, the present patent documentclaims the benefit of foreign priority pursuant to 35 U.S.C. § 119 or§356 to British Patent Application Nos. 9814796.0, filed Jul. 8, 1998,and 9821713.6, filed Oct. 14, 1998.

BACKGROUND

The invention relates to apparatus for separating articles of laundrywhich are bundled together and discharged after the washing process in amodem laundry. The process and handling procedures described within thisapplication mainly, but not exclusively, concern large laundry flatwork,namely: sheets, table covers and other similar rectangular textilearticles.

After the washing and water extraction process, followed by a rotarytumbling process, which loosens up the articles, the bundles aredischarged and onward conveyed by trucks or mechanical conveyors to thefinishing departments where each piece is manually handled by theoperators, who feed the items into the ironing machines. In order toincrease the productive output and also to reduce the work effort of theoperators, it is desirable to separate the articles from the bundle pileand then direct the pieces to the operators in a more handleable state.

Among the existing methods which are used to separate articles are thosewhich employ grip and pickup mechanisms. These comprise a grippingdevice which is arranged for substantially vertical travel up and downand which is lowered to make random contact with the articles in thebundle pile. A pair of jaws are closed to grip a portion of the fabricand the mechanism is raised upwards to withdraw the article from thepile. At a predetermined height the article is released and directed onto conveyor means which will route it to the feeding machine operators.

For gripping mechanisms to effectively pick up and separate just one ortwo articles at a time it is necessary for the jaws to grip a relativelysmall portion of the fabric which does impose a danger of tearing thefabric when withdrawing from a heavily tangled pile. Alternatively jawswhich are arranged to grip a substantial amount of fabric will tend towithdraw a greater number of articles with each pick up operation,consequently the process of separation is not efficient.

There are limitations with the existing systems regarding the degree oftangled laundry they can effectively process. The work loads in manylaundries are transported in hand trucks which can be loaded to a depthin excess of 70 cms and here the bundle pile is compacted and heavilytangled.

SUMMARY

According to one aspect of the present invention there is providedlaundry separating apparatus for separating an article of laundry from abundle of laundry articles, the apparatus comprising a frame, a driveconnected with a laundry truck to moveably position the truck relativeto the frame and allow positioning of the truck both away from andadjacent to the frame. In another embodiment of this aspect, theapparatus comprises a frame, a grip device mounted for guided movementtowards and away from a bundle of laundry, a truck in which the laundryarticles are, in use, located, drive means for moving said grip devicetowards and away from said laundry, moving means associated with thetruck for causing the truck to move relative to the frame beneath thegrip device during the operation of the apparatus.

Preferably the moving means moves the truck after a number of cycles ofmovement of the grip device towards and away from the bundle determinedby control means, the grip device being actuated to grip an article oflaundry at the lowermost point in its cycle of movement. In mostarrangements the grip device moves substantially vertically towards andaway from the truck, so as to suspend a gripped article of laundry.

In some arrangements the moving means comprises a carriage and the truckis wheeled for free movement on the ground and, in use, is releasablyclamped relative to the carriage which is mounted on the frame forforward and backward movement relative thereto.

In other arrangements the moving means comprises guide means extendingbetween a truck loading position and a laundry separating position belowthe grip device, the truck being mounted on the guide means such thatmovement of the truck relative to the guide means results in movement ofthe truck relative to the grip device. Conveniently the guide meanscomprises a pair of guide rails.

Ideally control means are provided to coordinate the movement of thegrip device and the truck relative thereto. It is a preferred featurethat the control means moves the truck relative to the grip device ifthe grip device fails to grip an article of laundry. Also, the controlmeans moves the truck relative to the grip device if the apparatus isunable to extract an article and the article is released back into thebundle.

According to another aspect of the present invention there is providedlaundry separating apparatus for separating an article of laundry from abundle of laundry articles, the apparatus comprising a frame, a conveyorwith a shaft pivotally mounted with the frame, a nip formed with theconveyor and a means for oscillating the conveyor and the nip about theshaft. In another embodiment, the apparatus comprises a frame, a clampmoveably connected with the frame along a first path of travel, aconveyor connected with the frame and offset from the first path oftravel, and a nip formed with the conveyor adjacent to the first path oftravel. In yet another embodiment of this aspect, the apparatuscomprises a grip device mounted for guided movement towards and awayfrom said bundle to extract said article of laundry from said bundle, aconveyor mounted adjacent the path of movement of said grip device, anip roller mounted adjacent the conveyor to define therebetween a nip,transfer means for transferring a portion of said article of laundryinto said nip, and control means for actuating the transfer means andactuating said grip device so as to release said article of laundrywhich is then conveyed by said conveyor.

Preferably said conveyor is adapted to oscillate towards and away fromsaid bundle of laundry. In a preferred arrangement said conveyor is anendless belt conveyor extending between two rollers, the first of whichis located adjacent the path of the grip device and the associated niproller and the second of which is relatively remote from the path of thegrip device, the second roller being driven in rotation and acting asthe pivot for the oscillation of the conveyor.

It is a preferred feature that said transfer means comprises air jetmeans mounted on the other side of the movement path of the grip deviceto said conveyor and adapted to blow said portion of the article towardsthe nip. When the conveyor oscillates said air jet means are movablymounted so as always to be directed towards the nip between the conveyorand the nip roller.

Normally the nip roller is biased into engagement with the conveyor andin preferred embodiments sensing means are provided to detect a blockagein the nip of the conveyor, the sensing means being linked to thecontrol means to actuate reversal of the conveyor to remove theblockage. Conveniently the sensing means comprises an encoder on the niproller which encoder senses when the nip roller is no longer rotating ina laundry removal direction.

In some arrangements a further sensor is provided to detect the presenceof the gripped suspended article of laundry, the sensor being linked tothe control means to actuate the transfer mechanism and to release thearticle from the grip device. Preferably the further sensor also detectsclearance of the removed blockage to resume forward movement of theconveyor and may comprise a photocell or a row of photocells.

According to yet another aspect of the present invention there isprovided laundry separating apparatus for separating an article oflaundry from a bundle of laundry, said apparatus comprising a casing,first and second clamp jaws mounted in the casing where the first jawsare substantially fixed in position relative to the second jaws. Inanother embodiment, the apparatus comprises a grip device mounted forguided movement towards and away from the bundle of laundry, drive meansfor lifting the grip device away from said bundle, and sensor meansdetermining the lowermost point of the movement of the grip devicetowards the laundry so as to actuate the grip device to grip an articleof laundry and to actuate the drive means to lift the grip device andthe gripped article away from the bundle of laundry, the grip devicehaving first and second pairs of gripping jaws, the first pair grippinga small part of the article of laundry and the second pair gripping alarger part of the article after the grip device has been moved apredetermined distance away from the bundle of laundry.

Preferably the jaws are pivotally mounted on a gripping carriage. In apreferred embodiment the axes of the jaw pivots are parallel to eachother, the first jaws being mounted inside the second jaws.

Conveniently the drive means comprises a rotatable winch drum connectedto said grip device by one or more belts/cables. In preferredarrangements the winch drum is driven by means of a pinion fixed theretoand a cooperating rack connected to a pneumatic cylinder, exhaustion ofwhich allows the grip device to fall under gravity.

Conveniently the drive means comprises a rotatable winch drum connectedto said grip device by one or more belts/cables. In preferredarrangements the winch drum is driven by means of a pinion fixed theretoand a cooperating rack connected to a pneumatic cylinder, exhaustion ofwhich allows the grip device to fall under gravity.

Preferably said sensing means comprises an encoder to detect lack ofmovement of the winch drum when the grip device is being moved away fromthe bundle to detect an overload condition thereby actuating the brakeand releasing the grip device, and when the grip device falls undergravity to detect the lowermost point of movement of the grip device.Ideally the guided movement of the grip device is substantially verticalso as to suspend the gripped article of laundry.

According to further aspects of the invention, a laundry separatingapparatus comprises a grip device mounted for guided movement towardsand away from a bundle of laundry and a drive for lifting the gripdevice away from the bundle and allowing the grip device to fall due togravity towards the bundle of laundry. In one embodiment of this aspect,a winch wheel with a belt connection with the gripping device connects adrive to the grip device. An apparatus comprising sensors for detectingoverload conditions when separating a laundry article from a bundle isalso provided. The sensor detects movement of a gripping device or a niproller.

Other features are set out in the claims of the present application.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

One preferred embodiment of the invention is now described inconjunction with the enclosed drawings:

FIG. 1 is a sectional side view of apparatus according to the presentinvention,

FIG. 2 is an end view of the FIG. 1 apparatus,

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the FIG. 1 apparatus,

FIG. 4 are cut-away side and end views of the gripper mechanismarrangement (jaws open),

FIG. 5 is a cut-away end view of the gripper mechanism (jaws closed),

FIG. 6 is the schematic pneumatic control system,

FIG. 7 is the schematic control circuits arrangement,

FIGS. 8, 9 and 10 show simplified side view of an operating sequence,

FIG. 11 is a plan view of a truck in the engaged position,

FIG. 12 is an end view of the truck in position,

FIG. 13 is a cross section of the carriage assembly with motor driventransmission,

FIG. 14 is a cross section of the carriage assembly with alternativepneumatic transmission,

FIG. 15 is a plan view of the hinged clamping arm and its lockingmechanism,

FIG. 16 is a frontal view of the hinged clamping arm,

FIG. 17 is a side view of an alternative conveyor/nip rollercombination,

FIG. 18 is a side view of an alternative truck arrangement,

FIGS. 19 and 20 are side and end views of a further truck arrangement.

With reference to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3. A fabricated main frame 1 issupported on a base 2 with four vertical legs 3 which provide a clearspace below the main frame for the laundry work loads which may be in atruck or on a conveyor or provided in some other form. Two verticalpanels 4 are located inside the main frame on which panels 4 two guiderails 5 are attached, a carriage 6 being arranged for substantiallyvertical travel up and down the said rails. A pair of flat belts 7 areanchored to the carriage and pass upwards and over a roller 8, the otherend of the belts being wrapped around and attached to a pair of winchwheels 9 located on a drive shaft 10. A winding rotation of the shaftwill winch the carriage upwards and reversal of the shaft will permitthe carriage to fall freely downwards under its own weight. A grippingmechanism 11 is attached to the base of the carriage with its jaws 12projecting from the bottom whereby they will make contact with anylaundry work load placed below.

A discharge conveyor 13 is positioned at a suitable height with thereceiving end of the conveyor located in front of the path line of thecarriage and gripper assembly. This conveyor is mechanically oscillatedin a vertical up and down arcuate motion. Air jet means 14 transfer agripped article from its suspended position in the jaws of the gripperon to the discharge conveyor. These jets are located at the rear of thepath line of the carriage assembly which passes upwards between them andthe discharge conveyor and are pivotally mounted with mechanical linkage15 to move in synchronism with the oscillating motion of the conveyor. Apneumatic cylinder 17 with a relatively short stroke is fitted with agear rack 18 meshed with a pinion 19 which is attached to the winchdrive shaft 10. This rack and pinion transmission provides a liftingratio of approximately 3.5 to 1 of the cylinder stroke to winch thegripper carriage assembly upwards on its guide rails. The carriageassembly is arranged to contact a pneumatic damping cylinder 16 at thetop of its vertical travel which will cushion the rapid top of strokeimpact and prevent inertia bounce. A pneumatic cylinder 20 is arrangedin an appropriate position to contact the return stroke travel of themain drive cylinder 17 when its operating pressure is released and theweight of the falling carriage assembly unwinds the winch mechanismreversing the drive of the rack and pinion. The cylinder 20 is asuitable diameter and stroke to effectively cushion the downward travelof the carriage assembly and also counter balance its weight which willcontrol its impact when it makes contact and rests upon the surface ofthe laundry work load.

The discharge conveyor 13 comprises a frame 21 supporting two rollers 22and 23, the roller 22 provides the drive to a set of grip faced belts24. A third free running roller 25 is pivotally mounted on two springloaded arms 26 and rests upon the upper surface of the conveyor belts 24and roller 23 thereby providing a powerful nip which will grip thefabric of an article and draw it on to the conveyor from where it willbe discharged. The complete conveyor assembly is pivotally mounted onthe shafts extended from each end of the roller 22. A pair of freerunning flanged pulleys 27 are suitably located on shafts 28 whichproject from each side of the conveyor frame, these align with a pair ofeccentric flanged pulleys 30 fixed to a powered drive shaft 29 locatedabove the conveyor. Endless belts 31 pass around these pulleys andsupport the pivotal weight of the conveyor assembly. Shaft 29 is drivenat a desirable speed by an electric motor 32, resulting in an up anddown cranking action with produces a rapid oscillating effect of theconveyor assembly. This shaft also transmits drive to the conveyorroller 22 via a torque limiting device.

With reference to FIGS. 4 and 5, the gripper mechanism comprises a smallpair of jaws 33 and a larger more powerful pair of jaws 34. The smalljaws 33 are powered to close by an air cylinder 35 and are opened by aspring 36. The jaws 33 are supported on a frame 37 located inside theopening mouth of the large jaws 34. The large jaws are hinged on pivots38 and are opened and closed by air cylinders 39; due to the pivotalarrangement of those jaws they will follow an arcuate path and wrapthemselves around the smaller jaws gripping the suspended fabric at asubstantially lower point providing a greater hold by which to extractthe article from the laundry pile. The complete assembly is housed in acasing 40 which is attached to the carriage 6 which moves it up anddown. The pneumatic and electrical supplies for the mechanism are fedthrough conventional energy chain which supports the flexible travel ofthe cable and tube for these services. FIG. 4 shows the jaws in an openposition, FIG. 5 shows them in a closed position.

With reference to FIG. 6 schematic pneumatic circuits detailed in therest position: The initiating coils of all the solenoid valves aresequentially operated by output signals from an electronic C.P.U. Thethree port solenoid valve 41 applies air pressure to the winch drive aircylinder 17 via the pressure regulator valve 42, adjustment of this airpressure controlling the lifting force which extracts an article out ofthe laundry pile and it is adjusted to apply a force which will not tearthe fabrics. Pressure is fed to the air cylinder 16 via a pressureregulator 43 adjusted to provide effective damping control of thecarriage assembly as it strikes the top of its uplift travel. Solenoidvalve 46 applies the air pressure to cylinder 20 which controls thedownward fall of the carriage assembly, this pressure being suitablyadjusted by the regulator 45. Pressure build up during the dampingaction is relieved by the adjustable relief valve 47. The solenoid valve50 supplies air pressure to the air

cylinder 35 which closes the small gripper jaws. The solenoid valves 48and 49 supply the pressure to the air cylinders 39 which open and closethe large gripper jaws, these valves being arranged for independentoperation. Valve 48 opens the jaws and valve 49 close them. This permitsthe opening pressure of the cylinders to be exhausted immediately thegrippers contact the laundry, and results in a more rapid closure of thelarge jaws when the carriage has been moved up the required distancefrom the laundry pile with an article held in the small jaws. Thesolenoid valve 51 is initiated at the appropriate time to discharge abrief blast of compressed air from the air jets which will direct thesuspended fabric on to the discharge conveyor simultaneously with itsrelease by the gripper jaws.

With reference to FIG. 7 control circuits: mains electricity isconnected to control box 52 which provides a low voltage power supply tothe C.P.U. 54 and its connected components. The high voltage supply formotor 32 is also provided from this control box via a pair of reversingcircuit contactors operated by the C.P.U. outputs to coils 55 and 56.The switching inputs to the C.P.U. comprise two push buttons 59 and 60manually operated to start or stop the automatic sequences. A switch 61is operated when the winch and mechanisms are at the top of strokeposition. Photo cell sensor 62 (or a row of sensors 62) scans andsignals the presence of an article presented to the discharge conveyor13. An encoder 57 is driven to synchronise with the rotation of thewinch shaft 10 which signals the travelling location of the grippermechanisms and also when they stop moving.

The outputs from the C.P.U. switch the coils of the six solenoids valves41, 46, 48, 49, 50 and 51 which control the sequences of the pneumaticsystems. A relay 63 interfaces to switch a fail safe electric brake 64anchored to the winch drive shaft 10. The brake can be manually releasedby switch 65 which overrides the C.P.U. and is also applied in the eventof air pressure failure by a pneumatically operated switch 67.

A description of the operating sequences follows. With the machine atrest the winch and gripper mechanisms are held in the top strokeposition by pressure in the cylinder 17 via valve 41. The automaticcycle is initiated by a manual operation of the start button 59. Airpressure is exhausted from cylinder 17 via valve 41 and the grippermechanisms 11 will fall downward under its gravitational weight,rotating the encoder as it falls. At a predetermined position in thedownward travel the cylinder 17 mechanism makes contact with cylinder 20which has been pressurised via solenoid valve 46 and this provides acushioning effect to the rapidly free falling mechanism which controlsand balances its weight by expelling the pressure increase in cylinder20 via the adjustable pressure relief valve 47. When the grippermechanism is arrested upon impact with the laundry pile the encoder willcease to rotate and the pick up sequences are initiated as follows:valve 50 pressurises cylinder 35 closing the small gripper jaws upon thefabric it has randomly made contact with. Valve 46 exhausts pressurefrom damping cylinder 20. Valve 48 exhausts pressure from cylinders 39which hold the large jaws 34 open. Valve 41 is then operated topressurise the winch cylinder 17 which will winch the gripper mechanismsupwards and rotate the encoder. After a short predetermined upwardtravel measured by the encoder the gripped portion of fabric isextracted from the laundry pile and valve 49 pressurises the twocylinders 39 rapidly closing the large jaws in a firm grip on thesuspended portion of the fabric. The article is drawn upwards until itis in the top of stroke position and switch 61 is operated, the articlenow hangs suspended between the air jets 14 and the discharge conveyor13 with its tail breaking the scan path of photocell 62. A briefoperation of the air jets via valve 51 simultaneous with release of thearticle by the gripper jaws via valves 48, 49 and 50 will direct andrelease the fabric suspended from the oscillating conveyor into the nipof its grip rollers which will discharge the article from the machine.The pick up cycle will be automatically repeated when the tail portionof the article has cleared the scan path of the photo cell. In the eventof the gripper jaws failing to pick up an article the photo cell scanpath will not be broken and the cycle will immediately repeat.

When overloads occur due to heavily tangled laundry conditions thecontrol system will automatically be adjusted to the following change ofsequence: the winch drive cylinder will stall during the upliftoperation and the encoder will stop rotating, the gripper jaws will openand release the article to fall back into the laundry pile.Simultaneously the fail safe brake will engage and the pressure in thewinch drive cylinder will be exhausted. The laundry pile will be moved ashort distance, the brake will disengage and the gripper mechanism willfall downwards to engage with another part of the laundry pile and thelifting cycle will recommence.

In the event of the discharge conveyor failing to clear a tangled fabricmass which has been engaged between its nip rollers the photo cell scanpath will remain broken. In the event of a blockage, either the conveyorwill be stopped after a permitted clearance time has elapsed or theconveyor will already have stopped by virtue of the blockage overridingthe torque limiting device of the conveyor. The conveyor is thenreversed thereby discharging the blockage back into the pile, and theautomatic cycle will then resume operating with the conveyor beingswitched to the forward direction.

Positioning of the laundry to be processed can be achieved byconventional conveyor means, or mobile hand trucks or bins. Theconveying means can be arranged to automatically control the laundryload position and stop; move forward to feed in new work loads; orreverse to reposition said loads. Hand trucks can be engaged withmechanisms which will provide a series of controlled stop, start andreverse movements which ensure efficient pick up of the contents of thetruck. Additional outputs from the C.P.U. e.g., switching relay 65 canbe arranged to control switching sequences to operate the abovementioned auxiliary equipment.

FIGS. 8, 9 and 10 show the simplified pick up sequences of a laundryarticle from the work load in a hand truck, without showing the grippingand oscillating sequences.

With reference to FIG. 11, a power driven carriage assembly 71 ismounted on a support member 72 comprising upper and lower track bars 73along which the carriage is guided. Two clamping arms 74 and 75 projectfrom each end of the carriage assembly 71, these arms being mounted onsupporting members 76 which slide into the body of the carriage andwhich can be adjusted and anchored to suit the dimension of varioussizes of trucks. Substantial rubber thrust pads 77 are attached to theworking faces of the clamps and provide a flexible grip on the ends of apositioned truck 78. The clamping arm 74 is hingedly mounted on itssupporting member 76 and can be opened to permit a truck to be easilywheeled into location then it is closed and locked (see FIG. 15) toclamp the truck into the carriage assembly. The clamp arm 75 is weldedto its support member 76 although a hinged arm could alternatively beattached to both ends of the carriage.

Travel limiting photo sensor switches 79 are located in the requiredpositions on the support member 72, these switches are operated byreflective flags 80 attached to the adjustable clamp arm support members76. When the carriage 71 reaches its permitted travel position in eitherdirection the operation of sensors 79 automatically reverse thedirection of drive resulting in a forward and backward movement of thecarriage assembly during its operating sequences.

A guide rail 81 is located on the machine frame on the opposing side tothe carriage mechanism and this is set to provide space for the width ofthe truck to pass and will prevent it from disengaging from the clampswhen it is moved.

With reference to FIG. 12 this is an end view showing the truck 78 freestanding on its wheels with the clamp arm 74 closed and locked intoposition. Operation of the carriage drive will propel the truck on itsown wheels.

With reference to FIG. 13 this is a cross section through the centralline of the mechanisms. The carriage 71 is supported on the member 72and is guided along the track bars 73 by upper and lower bearing slideblocks 83 which are attached to the carriage 71. A suitable length ofgear rack 84 is fixed to the underside of the carriage frame and ismeshed with a pinion 85 attached to the drive shaft of a general motor86, which is located on the support member 72. Operation of the motorwill drive the carriage along the track.

FIG. 14 is substantially the same mechanical constriction as FIG. 13.The rack and pinion drive, however, is replaced by a suitable rodlessair cylinder 87 and this is attached to support member 72 and extendsalong the underside of the carriage frame. A simple post projecting fromthe moving saddle of the cylinder engages with a hole in the frame ofthe carriage and imparts the thrust of the cylinder to drive thecarriage. A pair of suitable solenoid valves control the forward andbackward movement required.

FIG. 15 shows a plan view of the hinged clamp arm arrangement. A notchedhinge block 89 is attached to the clamp arm 74 and is pivoted on pin 90.A lever 88 pivoted on pin 91 moves a pawl 92 which is arranged to engagewith the notch in the hinge block 89, this pawl locking the clamp arm 74in position. Disengagement of the pawl permits the clamp arm to beopened. The location of the reflector flags 80 which operate the photosensors 79 is also shown on this drawing.

FIG. 16 is a front view of the hinged clamp arm assembly and also showsthe location of the reflector flag 80 on the clamp arm support member76.

The truck moving apparatus and the guide rail 81 are attached to thebase frame support legs 3 of the machine by simple angle brackets 94which provide some desirable adjustability. The machine's PLC isprogrammed to initiate the desired travel sequences of the truck inresponse to the following operating situations of the machine:

1. The pick up head has executed a pre-set number of effective grip andpick up cycles: the truck is moved to a new position.

2. The pick up head fails to grip and extract an article from thelaundry pile: the truck immediately moves to a new position.

3. An overload occurs during the pick up operation and the gripper jawsrelease the laundry which drops back into the pile: the truckimmediately moves to a new position.

4. After a pre-set number of failures to pick up any articles: Thiscondition signifies that the truck has been effectively emptied: thetruck is moved to the “start position”, the operating cycles will cease,a visual-audio alarm will be operated. The truck can then be removed andreplaced by another one and the operating cycle restarted.

FIG. 17 shows an alternative arrangement of conveyor 13 in which the niproller 25 is still pivotally mounted on spring loaded arms 26 so as torest on the upper surface of the conveyor belts 24 and roller 23. Inthis arrangement the nip roller 25 is provided with an integral encoderdisc 100 and a sensor 101. When a piece of laundry has been transferredto the conveyor 13 and the laundry is too tangled then the nip roller 25will stop rotating. This lack of rotation will be detected by theencoder disc 100/sensor 101 combination and the drive for the conveyor13 can be stopped and reversed so as to discharge the piece of laundryback into the pile. This method of detecting a conveyor blockage is analternative to the use of the photocell 62 scan path discussed above.

In addition, the nip roller 25 could be replaced by a short length ofnip conveyor positioned to run on top of the belts of the dischargeconveyor belts 24.

The arrangements described above show the apparatus located above atruck 78 which is filled with laundry and moved manually into positionbelow the gripping mechanism 11. The truck 78 is then clamped into thecarriage assembly 71 which then moves the truck according to the controlsystem of the apparatus.

FIG. 18 shows a variation on this idea. In FIG. 18 the truck 78 isprovided on rails 105 which in a preferred embodiment comprise twoparallel rails 105. These extend from below a remote laundry hopper 106,which may be fed from a feed conveyor 107 or an overhead rail feedsystem 108, to the separating apparatus. When the truck 78 is filled adrive system associated with the truck 78 moves the truck along therails into position below the gripping mechanism. The control system ofthe separating apparatus can be linked to the drive system of the truck78 so as to control the movement of the truck, and hence the pile oflaundry, between cycles of the gripping mechanism.

One suitable drive system may comprise a toothed rack extending thelength of the rails 105 and a motor driven pinion mounted on the truck.The power supply to the motor being controlled by the control system ofthe separating apparatus.

Although the rails 105 are shown in FIG. 18 as being mounted on thefloor 110, they could be raised off the ground and possibly attached tothe frame 1 of the separating apparatus and/or hopper as shown in FIGS.19 and 20. The truck 78 sits on the raised rails, effectively suspendedtherefrom above the ground.

A sensor 109 can also be provided in the truck 78 to monitor the levelof the pile of laundry. When the level is low then the control systemmoves the truck back along the rails 105 to the hopper 106 to receiveanother load.

It will be readily appreciated that other alterations and modificationswill be possible without departing from the basic aspects of the presentinvention.

1-30. (canceled)
 31. A laundry separating apparatus for separating anarticle of laundry from a bundle of laundry articles, the apparatuscomprising: a grip device mounted for guided movement towards and awayfrom said bundle to extract said article of laundry from said bundle; aconveyor mounted adjacent the path of movement of said grip device; anip roller mounted adjacent the conveyor to define therebetween a nip;transfer means for transferring a portion of said article of laundryinto said nip; and control means for actuating the transfer means andactuating said grip device so as to release said article of laundrywhich is then conveyed by said conveyor.
 32. The apparatus as claimed inclaim 31 wherein said conveyor is adapted to oscillate towards and awayfrom said bundle of laundry.
 33. The apparatus as claimed in claim 32wherein said conveyor is an endless belt conveyor extending between tworollers, the first of which is located adjacent the path of the gripdevice and the associated nip roller and the second of which isrelatively remote from the path of the grip device, the second rollerbeing driven in rotation and acting as the pivot for the oscillation ofthe conveyor.
 34. The apparatus as claimed in claims 31 wherein saidtransfer means comprises air jet means mounted on the other side of themovement path of the grip device to said conveyor and adapted to blowsaid portion of the article towards the nip.
 35. The apparatus asclaimed in claim 34 wherein said conveyor is adapted to oscillatetowards and away from said bundle of laundry and wherein said air jetmeans are movably mounted so as always to be directed towards the nipbetween the conveyor and the nip roller.
 36. The apparatus as claimed inclaim 31 wherein said transfer means comprises an insertion membermounted for movement across the path of the grip device.
 37. Theapparatus as claimed in claim 31 wherein the nip roller is biased intoengagement with the conveyor.
 38. The apparatus as claimed in claim 31wherein sensing means are provided to detect a blockage in the nip ofthe conveyor, the sensing means being linked to the control means toactuate reversal of the conveyor to remove the blockage.
 39. Theapparatus as claimed in claim 38 wherein the sensing means comprises anencoder on the nip roller which encoder senses when the nip roller is nolonger rotating in a laundry removal direction.
 40. The apparatus asclaimed in claim 31 wherein a sensor is provided to detect the presenceof the gripped suspended article of laundry, the sensor being linked tothe control means to actuate the transfer mechanism and to release thearticle from the grip device.
 41. The apparatus as claimed in claim 40wherein the sensor detects clearance of the removed blockage to resumeforward movement of the conveyor.
 42. The apparatus as claimed in claim40 wherein the sensor comprises a photocell or a row of photocells. 43.The apparatus as claimed in claim 31 wherein the grip device has firstand second pairs of gripping jaws, the first pair gripping a small partof the article of laundry and the second pair gripping a larger part ofthe article of laundry after the grip device has been moved apredetermined distance away from the bundle of laundry.
 44. Theapparatus as claimed in claim 31 wherein the guided movement of the gripdevice is substantially vertical so as to suspend the gripped articleadjacent the conveyor.
 45. The apparatus as claimed in claim 31 whereinthere is provided drive means for lifting the grip device away from thebundle of laundry, which drive means allows the grip device to fallunder gravity towards the bundle, and sensor means determine thelowermost point of the movement of the grip device towards the laundryso as to actuate the grip device to grip an article and to actuate thedrive means to lift the grip device and the gripped article away fromthe bundle of laundry.
 46. The apparatus as claimed in claim 45 whereinthe drive means comprises a winch drum driven by means of a pinion fixedthereto and a cooperating rack connected to a pneumatic cylinder,exhaustion of which allows the grip device to fall under gravity. 47.The apparatus as claimed in claim 46 wherein there is further providedvelocity regulating means in the form of a damping cylinder which isengaged at a predetermined point in the gravity movement of the gripdevice by an arm which extends from the rack. 48-54. (canceled)
 55. Aconveyor apparatus for separating at least one article of laundry from abundle of laundry articles, the conveyor system comprising: a frame; aclamp moveably connected with the frame along a first path of travel; aconveyor connected with the frame, the conveyor operable to transfer anarticle of laundry from a first end to a second end of the conveyor, theconveyor offset from the first path of travel; and a nip formed with thefirst end of the conveyor, the nip adjacent to the first path of travelwherein the second end of the conveyer is spaced further from the fromthe first path of travel than the first end.
 56. The apparatus of claim55 further comprising an air jet adjacent the nip on an opposite side ofthe first path of travel. 57-97. (canceled)
 98. A laundry separatingapparatus for separating an article of laundry from a bundle of laundry,the apparatus comprising: a grip device mounted for guided movementtowards and away from the bundle of laundry; a drive for lifting thegrip device away from said bundle and allowing the grip device to falldue to gravity towards said bundle of laundry.
 99. The apparatus ofclaim 98 further comprising a sensor for determining the closest pointof the movement of the grip device towards the bundle of laundry so asto actuate the grip device to grip an article of laundry and to actuatethe drive to move the grip device and the gripped article of laundryaway from the bundle.
 100. The apparatus of claim 98 wherein the drivecomprises a rotatable winch drum connected with said grip device by abelt or cable.
 101. The apparatus of claim 100 wherein a dampingcylinder engages the grip device at a predetermined point in the gravitymovement of the grip device to slow the movement.
 102. A laundry articleseparation apparatus for moving a gripping device towards an article oflaundry and moving the gripping device away from the article of laundry,the system comprising: a winch wheel; a belt operatively connecting thewinch wheel to the gripping device; and a drive operatively attached tothe winch wheel, the drive operable to rotate the winch wheel in a firstdirection and allow gravity rotation in a second direction.
 103. Amethod for moving a gripping device on a laundry article separator, themethod comprising the steps of: (a) driving the gripping device upwards;(b) moving the gripping device downward with gravity; and (c) guidingmovement of the gripping device with a guide. 104-112. (canceled)